A*STAR and Merck collaborate to advance peptide therapeutics

Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK ; known as MSD outside the USA and Canada) have formed a two-year collaboration aimed at improving cellular delivery of macrocyclic peptides, a class of molecules that can potentially access therapeutic strategies that have been refractory to traditional approaches.

Macrocyclic peptides are a diverse family of molecules with a stabilizing ring architecture. What distinguishes these molecules from traditional classes of therapeutics is their capacity to disrupt intracellular protein-protein interactions drug targets. Importantly, these targets have traditionally been cast as 'undruggable' due to their lack of obvious binding sites for small molecules and their residence inside cells, a location that shields them from antibody based therapies. Accordingly, the promise of macrocyclic peptides opens up new opportunities to address a range of human diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Indeed, given their medical potential, peptide therapeutics are on the rise. Globally, the market for peptide therapeutics is expected to grow to $23.7 billion by 2020.

Therapeutic peptide research gaining momentum